In clinics and hospitals, microscopic examination of specimens sampled by excising the diseased parts is employed frequently for the diagnosis of diseases. A specimen affixed to a glass slide is stained to facilitate the diagnosis of a disease through the microscopic examination of the specimen, and various automatic staining apparatus capable of automatically staining a specimen have been proposed.
FIG. 24 shows, by way of example, an automatic staining apparatus disclosed in JP-U 5-66543A. A plurality of liquid vessels 2 respectively having open upper ends and containing chemical solutions necessary for staining processes or rinsing water are disposed in an array on a horizontal base plate in an upper section of the interior of a cabinet 1. Disposed above the liquid vessels 2 is a three-dimensional driving mechanism comprising a movable beam 3 capable of moving in a horizontal plane in longitudinal directions (in the directions of the arrows a shown in FIG. 24) with respect to the base plate, a movable column 4 capable of moving along the movable beam 3 in a horizontal plane in lateral directions (in the directions of the arrows b) with respect to the base plate, and a hanger arm 5 capable of vertically moving along the movable column 4. A staining basket capable of containing a plurality of glass slides carrying specimens affixed thereto can be detachably hung on the hanger arm 5. The hanger arm 5 supporting the staining basket is lowered to immerse the plurality of glass slides contained in the staining basket in the chemical solution or rinsing water contained in the liquid vessel 2.
When staining a specimen by using the prior art automatic staining apparatus, the staining basket containing one or more glass slides having respective specimens affixed thereto is hung on the hanger arm 5. As is generally known, the glass slides are held in a vertical attitude in the staining basket. Then, the three-dimensional driving mechanism is actuated after the staining basket has been hung on the hanger arm 5. The movable beam 3, the movable column 4 and the hanger arm 5 are moved by signals provided by a controller, not shown, to immerse the staining basket for predetermined times sequentially in the chemical solutions and the rinsing water contained in the liquid vessels 2 in a predetermined order. This operation is repeated predetermined times to stain the specimens. The automatic staining apparatus shown in FIG. 24 stores tanks 6 containing chemical solutions to be supplied to the liquid vessels 2 in a lower section of the interior of the cabinet 1 to facilitate automatic change of the frequently used chemical solutions among those contained in the liquid vessels 2. Those tanks 6 are not necessarily indispensable. An automatic staining apparatus for processing specimens for microscopic examination without the cabinet 1 for storing the tanks 6 has a height that enables the automatic staining apparatus to be installed on top of a desk, like the prior art automatic staining apparatus for processing specimens for microscopic examination disclosed in JP 6-100522B.
A prior art multiple staining process disclosed in JP 6-100522B processes a plurality of staining baskets simultaneously on an automatic staining apparatus similar to the foregoing automatic staining apparatus to stain an increased number of specimens efficiently. A staining basket containing glass slides carrying specimens affixed thereto is disengaged from the hanger arm 5 and the basket is left immersed in a chemical solution for a predetermined time, while another staining basket is hung on the hanger arm 5 to carry that next staining basket to a predetermined liquid vessel 2 and to immerse that next basket in a chemical solution contained in the predetermined liquid vessel 2 for a predetermined time. Such an operation is executed for a plurality of staining baskets for the parallel processing of specimens carried by the plurality of staining baskets. When the immersion of any of the plurality of staining baskets in the chemical solution for the predetermined time, the hanger arm 5 is brought into engagement with that staining basket to carry that staining basket to a next liquid vessel 2. Since the plurality of staining baskets can be simultaneously processed by repeating such operations, an increased number of specimens can be stained in a short time. This multiple staining process can be achieved by previously storing a procedure including those operations in the controller.
An imbedding apparatus is a liquid-processing apparatus, similar to the foregoing automatic staining apparatus, having a plurality of liquid vessels containing imbedding chemical solutions and an imbedding liquid, and carries out an imbedding process which immerses specimens sequentially in the solutions and the liquid for processing. This imbedding process is similar in principle to the staining process to be carried out by the automatic staining apparatus.
In conventional apparatus thus constructed and operated for the liquid-processing of vital specimens, the liquid vessels are arranged along a plane, so that the apparatus needs a wide area for installation, which is disadvantageous in installing the apparatus in a laboratory where only a limited area is available for installing the apparatus.
In view of this problem, the present invention provides a liquid-processing apparatus for processing vital specimens that requires a small area for installation, one capable of being easily installed in a compact laboratory space.